There appears to be no immediate respite in sight for first-time buyers hoping to get a foothold on the property ladder, according to the latest data from Realtor.com released on Thursday, which looked at housing inventory in the top 300 metro areas.
Active inventory — the number of homes are on the market across the U.S. — fell by 6.4% year-over-year in July. New home listings — which refer to homes appearing on the market for the first time — fell by 21% from the same period last year. Approximately 4 out of 10 homes were sold above the list price, as of the middle of June, the company said. In 2018, less than one-third of home sales were sold for over the list price.
Inventory fell 29% in July in Oshkosh-Neenah, Wis., and by 26% in Lancaster, Penn. The median price of a home in Oshkosh, Wis. is $260,000, and $320,000 in Lancaster. Housing inventory was highest in July in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area, where listings grew by 21% year-over-year, followed by Punta Gorda and Panama City . All of these metro areas are in Florida.